No Life at All!!

[John M Carter]

When I turn on my computer the power LED glows but no other response. I
thought perhaps that the PSU was faulty but I've replaced that to no effect.
Can anyone please suggest where I start looking now? The problem started
when the computer suddenly turned itself off whilst I was surfing - didn't
see any warning signals just sudden loss of power. Any help gratefully
received.

 

[Malke]

When I turn on my computer the power LED glows but no other response. I
thought perhaps that the PSU was faulty but I've replaced that to no
effect. Can anyone please suggest where I start looking now? The problem
started when the computer suddenly turned itself off whilst I was surfing
- didn't see any warning signals just sudden loss of power. Any help
gratefully received.

Since you now know the PSU isn't at fault, some other component has died.
It's probably the motherboard but it won't be possible to accurately
diagnose the machine without having hands-on. Either troubleshoot it
yourself or take it to a competent local computer tech. I don't recommend
using a BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of place.

Malke

 

[Big_Al]

John M Carter said this on 4/24/2009 7:57 AM:

When I turn on my computer the power LED glows but no other response. I
thought perhaps that the PSU was faulty but I've replaced that to no effect.
Can anyone please suggest where I start looking now? The problem started
when the computer suddenly turned itself off whilst I was surfing - didn't
see any warning signals just sudden loss of power. Any help gratefully
received.

You may have power, but if just the right component on the motherboard
goes, it can stop it. And if it were a video / HD etc, you probably
would get an error. I suspect the mobo.

I would disconnect all hardware. Remove the add-on boards, drive
cables and power to the drives. Just strip it down to the mobo only,
okay maybe the video card. And start there. Yes you'll get errors
but hopefully you'll see something on the screen and then you can put
stuff back, one at a time.

Then too, how clean is your system? Dust out the inside?

 

[Alister]

When I turn on my computer the power LED glows but no other response. I
thought perhaps that the PSU was faulty but I've replaced that to no
effect. Can anyone please suggest where I start looking now? The problem
started when the computer suddenly turned itself off whilst I was
surfing - didn't see any warning signals just sudden loss of power. Any
help gratefully received.

When you power on the PC, you say "the power LED glows" but is that it?
Do the internal fans spin? Does your Hard drive motor spin up?
If not then it's pretty safe to say its beyond repair.
Either the processor, or some component on the motherboard has given up, and
there will be little you can do except replace the motherboard.
Your data is probably still on your hard drive, so you could put that into a
USB enclosure or another PC to access your files.

Alister

 

[Paul]

When I turn on my computer the power LED glows but no other response. I
thought perhaps that the PSU was faulty but I've replaced that to no effect.
Can anyone please suggest where I start looking now? The problem started
when the computer suddenly turned itself off whilst I was surfing - didn't
see any warning signals just sudden loss of power. Any help gratefully
received.

It would have helped if you'd named the computer make and model.

Certain Emachines computer have a Bestec 250W supply in them.
When the supply fails, it ruins the motherboard.

You could do a Google on your computer make and model, and
see if certain failure modes are more likely.

Paul

 

[Jose]

When I turn on my computer the power LED glows but no other response. I
thought perhaps that the PSU was faulty but I've replaced that to no effect.
Can anyone please suggest where I start looking now? The problem started
when the computer suddenly turned itself off whilst I was surfing - didn't
see any warning signals just sudden loss of power. Any help gratefully
received.

No beeps? Beeps are good diagnostic tools.

 

[Kim K]

Just a thought here, I see this at school all the time, does your computer
have a switch ion the back for 110/220? is it on 220? The students here do
this to me all the time, when it is on 220 the power light is on and there ar
eno fans no bios nothing, switch it back and the thing is fine.

Might give it a check just on the odd chance.

 

[Leythos]

When I turn on my computer the power LED glows but no other response. I
thought perhaps that the PSU was faulty but I've replaced that to no effect.
Can anyone please suggest where I start looking now? The problem started
when the computer suddenly turned itself off whilst I was surfing - didn't
see any warning signals just sudden loss of power. Any help gratefully
received.

Ensure power is OFF

Disconnect all devices inside the case that use power.

Disconnect all IDE/SATA/Floppy cables from their devices

Disconnect all external (USB, Keyboard, Mouse, printers) devices

Leave ONLY the monitor connected, turned off.

Reseat all cards and memory.

If you have more than 1 stick of memory, remote all but 1. Some
motherboards won't boot without Dual Sticks installed, in that case,
still remove 1, expect to see a memory error if that's the case.

Turn computer on, press DEL or F2 or the key that gets you into the
BIOS, don't want for the screen to show something - did that work?

Did you see anything?

Turn computer off.

Install any removed memory, turn computer on, press F2/DEL to see BIOS,
did you see it? Was this any different?

Now, if you still don't see anything, since you've already changed the
PSU, you have a couple areas that could cause the problem with
everything disconnected:

1) Bad video card
2) Bad motherboard

Neither 1 or 2 can be detected with a Volt Meter, ignore anything W_Tom
posts in this thread.

If you can see anything, start adding devices back in one at a time
until you determine which one is bad.

 

[Jose]

When I turn on my computer the power LED glows but no other response. I
thought perhaps that the PSU was faulty but I've replaced that to no effect.
Can anyone please suggest where I start looking now? The problem started
when the computer suddenly turned itself off whilst I was surfing - didn't
see any warning signals just sudden loss of power. Any help gratefully
received.

Tell us if it beeps when you power it up and what the BIOS is if you
know. Knowing this can save you a lot of time.

If it beeps, describe the beeps - 2 short, 1 long - 1 short, etc.

If it doesn't beep at all, say that and then suspect you hooked
something up wrong when you replaces the PS (easy to do).

The beep codes can tell you what might be wrong.